6/2/25
Problem Gambling in New York State: A Citrus.BI Analysis
Data is no longer just a tool for understanding the world—it's becoming the foundation for redesigning it.
Last week’s Super Bowl LX sparked renewed interest in America’s fast-growing mobile sports betting industry. Sports bettors cast $1.8B in bets on Sunday – a monumental sum that amounts to just a fraction of the $150B Americans legally wagered overall in 2024. New York leads the country in mobile sports wagering, accounting for approximately 15 percent of national sports gaming revenue according to the state’s bar association.
That expansion of sports betting and prediction markets – and the concurrent rise in problematic gambling behaviors – poses a new cause for concern among actors across the health care value chain, prompting new legislative proposals, addiction-focused startups, and has fueled a surge in litigation targeting the nascent industry.
Rising Gambling Costs in New York State
To understand how these factors are developing in New York, an analysis conducted by Citrus.BI reveals the increasing scale and subsequent cost of problem gambling in the Empire State. We analyzed health care claims data for pathological gambling behaviors from 2017 to 2023, which showed significant year-over-year increases in claim volume and cost. That increase, which already amounts to sizeable growth, notably predates the more recent explosion in prediction market engagement.
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